Win or Lose
by utility - singer
Summary: A few rainy days on their Paris honeymoon leave Georg and Maria looking for a way to pass the time.


It was the third straight day of rain, and Maria watched out the window, the city below as drearily gray as the sky above. Her husband of three weeks came up behind her, pulled her close and buried his face in the softness of her neck.

"What are you thinking about, darling?" he asked, in between each of the kisses he was deliberately placing upon her skin.

She smiled and squirmed as he touched a ticklish spot with his lips. "Just how inconvenient this rain has been. I'd hoped the storms would end we could take in some more of the sights."

"I'm thoroughly enjoying what I'm seeing," he responded, as he turned her around to gaze into her eyes. His heart swelled as he watched her blush furiously. From the first night, she'd been surprisingly at ease with the physical expression of their love; yet she still wasn't comfortable accepting his compliments. And that simply made him adore her all the more, for her modesty was real.

"Well, I did have a plan for us today," Georg mused, as he turned and walked toward the sitting area.

"You did? What are we doing?" Maria's curiosity always got the better of her.

"Oh, ho ho! You don't expect me to simply tell you, do you?" he teased. "No, to pass the time until the rain stops, perhaps we should play a game."

Maria looked at him skeptically. "What sort of game?"

"Just a simple guessing game, my love. You'll get to ask me twenty questions to which I'll answer 'yes' or 'no'." He grinned at her wickedly, so she knew her skepticism was well-founded.

"I've played that with the children. Why do I think that, with you, this game won't be so simple?" she asked, slowly crossing the room to where he was now sitting.

"Quite the contrary, Fraulein. It is exceedingly simple, there's just a little twist to add, ah, interest," he replied.

Maria sat down beside him. "And what would this twist be, Captain?"

He leaned over to whisper in her ear for effect. "For each incorrect answer, you remove a piece of your clothing."

She looked at him in surprise, then her eyes narrowed. "That hardly seems fair. I could wind up wearing nothing, while you're still fully dressed."

"What's wrong with that?" he teased, and began laughing, as she tossed a small cushion at him.

"Oooooh! I have a better idea. We'll take turns asking questions," Maria stated, quite satisfied with this compromise.

"That won't work, darling, I'll know the answer and you won't."

She frowned in thought, before her expression brightened. "I know, if I'm wrong, I'll take something off. If I'm right, though, you must remove something."

Georg pondered this for a moment. "Very well, your terms are accepted. Shall we begin?"

"All right. Wait, I need to ask questions about your plans for us today, yes?"

"That is correct, my darling. I'll even give you a hint. It's been my favorite place to take you in Paris."

Maria tried to think what the most logical place Georg would have planned for them to go on such a rainy day. "Is it a museum?"

"No."

She started to ask a second question when Georg stopped her. "Haven't you forgotten something?" he reminded her.

Maria sighed and kicked off her shoes. Her husband smiled at her frustration.

"An art gallery?"

"No."

Off came her jacket, from one of the skirted suits that had been made for her, for her new role as Baroness. Georg took the pink garment, and tossed it onto the nearby chair.

She tried again. "Ooh, that lovely little patisserie, with the delicious eclairs?"

"Ah, sorry, no." As Maria reached for the clasp on her strand of pearls, Georg reached both his arms around her to unfasten it himself. Having trapped her in his embrace, he planted a kiss on her lips, unable to resist her.

"Mmm, that was nice."

"Yes, it was. There's more where that came from," he said. "But we still have a game to play."

"Oh, all right." She thought for a moment. "Can you eat there?"

"Ah, yes." Georg removed his own jacket.

"Is it a restaurant?"

"No."

Maria exhaled with mild annoyance, as she began unbuttoning her blouse. Georg moved to assist her, and she slapped at his hand. "You didn't say anything about touching, darling," she reprimanded, her eyes bright with playfulness. Fully unfastened, she removed the silk top and dropped it at his feet. Rising and walking away, she called out over her shoulder, "But perhaps if I win…."

"Or lose, darling," he interjected.

"Win or lose, you'll just have to wait."

Georg grumbled his disagreement, and Maria smiled at him. She continued asking questions, and continued to receive 'no' for an answer, until she was standing before her husband in nothing but her brassiere, garter, and panties. Her second correct question had rid Georg of nothing save his tie. Though she'd felt slightly annoyed with him when the game began, she was now amused, and to his delight, she was obviously now as aroused as he.

He moved across the room to the bed, sat down, and removed his shoes and socks as Maria watched intently.

"What are you doing? I have a few questions left, don't I?"

"Yes, of course, I'm just getting a bit more comfortable. It doesn't seem as if the rain with let up any time soon."

She followed his path across the floor, and stood in front of him, teasing him with her bosom nearly at his eye level. When he reached his hand up to touch her, she grabbed his hand, and he lifted his face to look at her.

"Can you, um, dance there?" Her voice revealed her passionate nature and had taken on a distinctly husky tone.

"That depends." His own voice had taken on the same coloring.

"Yes or no, Captain?" He ignored the question in favor of grabbing her bottom in both of his hands, pulling her close enough to bury his face in the cleft between her breasts.

"Mmmm, I suppose," he whispered, as he ran his tongue across her sweet skin. "It depends upon what you mean by dancing."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. You need to remove this, darling," and she began unbuttoning his shirt.

"But we didn't say anything about touching. Did we?" As Maria moved his shirt back and off his shoulders, he quickly freed his arms from the sleeves in order to pull her closer. Georg began kissing, licking, caressing her bare skin as he searched for the buckles and clips holding her in her undergarments.

When he had successfully removed the rest of Maria's clothing, he lay her on the bed beside him. "Should I stop touching?" he asked, as he paused to remove the last of his own garments.

He covered her body with his own, as she murmured, "Never," before he reclaiming her mouth

as he slid inside her. They quickly found a rhythm as old as time itself, and all too soon she cried out; her passion crested as her husband poured himself into her.

They lay together, spent, in the warmth of their lovemaking. Maria traced lazy circle patterns on Georg's chest, when a thought occurred to her.

"Darling?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"We never finished the game," she commented

"What? Oh, yes. Well, we did really," he replied. Georg pulled her closer and placed a kiss on her temple.

"What do you mean?" Maria drew back and looked at him squarely. "Was this-you devil! This was what you'd planned all along?"

"It i_s_ my favorite place to be with you in Paris."


End file.
